Tesla drivers made the long trip home from the Christmas holidays this week, only to be met with long queues and waiting times of up to 90 minutes just to be able to access a charging port in regional Australia.
With electric cars becoming more popular in Australia, drivers are turning to Tesla for their travel needs. However, the lack of charging stations in regional areas means that drivers are unable to charge their cars and must wait for the long queues to pass.
The long queues at the Wodonga charging station are evidence of the current lack of charging ports in regional areas. There are currently limited charging ports in the city, located at shopping centres, and the lack of available charging stations means that drivers have to wait in long queues to charge their cars.
This has prompted calls from the public and Tesla drivers alike for more charging stations to be built in regional areas. The lack of charging ports means that drivers are unable to charge their cars, and in some cases, are unable to make it back home safely.
Phil Williams, an ABC journalist, experienced the chaos first-hand and took to Twitter to express his frustration.
“The wait times at Wodonga’s Tesla charge points have reached an overwhelming 90 minutes, demonstrating that the current EV infrastructure cannot keep up with the demand. Clearly, there is an urgent need for more substantial investment in the future,” he wrote.
In Wodonga, there is only one location that has EV super chargers, while there are approximately 11 petrol stations in the same vicinity.
Those with vehicles other than Teslas have been left in the dark as to what charging options are available, and this has not been met with sympathy from those on social media. Despite this, the six individual charging stations remain open 24/7 and provide up to 120kW for Teslas.
